Education Commons^™

Personality Patterns Of Students Who Make A Threat Of Targeted School Violence, Tawnya Michelle Ayim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although school shootings date back to the 1760’s (Dixon, 2005), recent attacks at schools in our country have raised awareness of school violence. This study investigates how students from one large school district responded to the personality pattern items on the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory, Second Edition after having made a threat to harm another student or staff member. Personality patterns were investigated in the overall sample, as well as within groups designated to be at a Low/Moderate risk level and High/Imminent risk level following a threat assessment. The minimal Differences between the sample for the current study and the …

Examining The Training Transfer Practice Of A Financial Institution: An Action Research Study, Maria Lourdes Lourdes Gutierrez

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Many organizations rely on training to improve the skills and knowledge of its human resources. The underlying assumption is that employees will use what they learned when they return to the workplace. Although there is evidence that learning occurred it does not always result in transfer (Mosel, 1957). Transfer is an issue of concern for training practitioners. If despite the significant investment no return is realized, then the training is not effective and the investment is wasted. This action research study was conducted in a financial institution in the Southwestern United States. The purpose of this study was to (1) …

The Roles Of Biophilic Attitudes And Auditory Stimuli Within Attention Restoration Theory, Jason B. Boggs

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Attention Restoration Theory indicates that interacting with nature allows one’s fatigued, directed attention to be restored. This effect has been documented and produced through directed interaction with nature, such as a walk in the park, as well as through indirect interactions (e.g., photographs). The current dissertation was designed to: 1) investigate whether and how biophilic attitudes affect the attention-restoring effects incurred from interactions with nature, and 2) extend the research on ART by assessing the impact of nature-related audio stimuli. A total of 184 participants completed an assessment of biophilic attitudes, engaged in attention fatiguing exercises, and participated in one …

A Phenomenological Study On The Professional Development Of African American Male Administrators At Predominately White Post-~Secondary Institutions, Arnold Shmorn Bell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

As of today, African Americans continue to face a daunting endeavor when seeking to become executive administrative leaders at predominately White post-secondary institutions, even though, according to Tillman (2001), “Mentoring was identified as a technique to assist the professional advancement of African American faculty. In doing so, their numbers will increase at predominantly White institutions” (p. 295). Literature steadily indicates that mentorship contributes to one’s career development in the post-secondary environment. The influential aspects of mentorship on one’s professional development is supported by numerous studies that examines mentoring relationships across various academic disciplines and businesses in corporate America (Brown, 2005). …

Exploring Relations Between Motivation, Metacognition, And Academic Achievement Through Variable-Centered, Person-Centered And Learning Analytic Methodologies, Wonjoon Hong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The three studies that comprise this dissertation examine relations between student characteristics, motivations, metacognitive learning processes, and academic achievement. Methodologically, the dissertation demonstrated the potential of multiple types of approaches

and data resource types. By employing multiple approaches including variable-centered, person-centered, and learning analytics, researchers can understand learning processes from various angles. In addition, through this triangulation by multiple types of methodological approaches, educational theories could be more thoroughly verified and supported by various empirical findings. Multiple types of data resources are related to analytical methods.

The purpose of the first paper was to examine relations between achievement goals and …

The Impacts Of Acculturation Patterns And Processes On Immigrants' Success In Higher Education: A Multiple Case Study Of 1.25-Generation Third-Wave Iranian Immigrants To The United States, Fereshteh Rezaeian

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The United States of America is inherently a pluralistic society composed of various groups of immigrants. As scholars (Camarota & Zeigler, 2016; Gibson, 1998) state, the number of immigrant children accounts for 20% of the total number of school-age children. Despite all attempts to provide the best education to such a great number of immigrant students, the achievement gap between immigrant and non-immigrant students still exists (Baum & Flores, 2011; Rong & Preissle, 2008). Some scholars (e.g., Ramos & Sanchez, 1995) have proposed that the key factor for immigrants to be successful in the United States is to adapt to …

The Effect Of Instructors Training On Technology Adoption, Course Design, And Student Experiences: A Multiple Case Study Of Training Based On Tpack Or Quality Matters, Yvette Aqui

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The use of a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Blackboard Learn (Blackboard Learn, 2009) is a ubiquitous feature of the undergraduate experience. Despite its rapid increase in popularity and student demand for anytime, anywhere access to course materials, adoption of the LMS is slow and uneven. Some instructors also do not take advantage of some of the interactive tools in the LMS because it is complex in nature or they are unaware of the pedagogical affordances of the technology.

The purpose of this study was to explore the best ways to train faculty on how to use the LMS. …

A Case Study: Number Apps In Preschool, Amy Beth Adkins

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

iPads are increasingly present in education. This research explores their role developing fundamental mathematics concepts. It investigates preschoolers’ interactions with mathematics apps, and affordances and constraints accessed. It was conducted over fourteen weeks; students played mathematics apps for thirty minutes a week. The qualitative case study design included participants who varied in mathematics and technological skill. Data was collected through assessments, interviews, questionnaires, videotapes, and artifacts. Results determined that students access constraints or affordances based on ability level. Findings indicate iPads are beneficial tools for preschool classrooms. Preschoolers showed an increase in math ability when using iPads.

Conversational Movement Dynamics And Nonverbal Indicators Of Second Language Development: A Microgenetic Approach, Kristine Marie Bragg

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This dissertation study extends on current understandings of gesture and embodied interaction with the eco-social environment in second language development (SLD) while introducing new aspects of movement analysis through dynamical modeling. To understand the role of embodiment during learning activities, a second language learning task has been selected. Dyads consisting of a non-native English-speaking student and a native English-speaking tutor were video recorded during writing consultations centered on class assignments provided by the student. Cross-recurrence quantification analysis was used to measure interactional movement synchrony between the members of each dyad. Results indicate that students with varied English proficiency levels synchronize …

College Access And African American Males: An Instrumental Case Study On The Impact Of Postsecondary Educators And Educational Leaders On Secondary Students With Postsecondary Educational Aspirations, Kimberly L. Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the college access experiences of successful African American males. Postsecondary education is critical for economic and social stability; however, African American males from families with low socioeconomic status have been operating in educational systems that keeps them on the margins. Many African American males report strong postsecondary educational aspirations early in their educational careers, but they encounter microaggressions that leave them feeling like outsiders-within. This study examined African American males’ college access experiences as they successfully transitioned through the K-16 educational pipeline. Further, their experiences in their role (s) as postsecondary educators or postsecondary educational leaders working …

A Qualitative Study Of School Psychologists' Perception And Interpretation Of Their Professional Identity, Elizabeth A. Sanders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The primary focus or aim of this qualitative multiple-case study was to increase understanding of how experienced school psychologists define themselves as professionals within the field, taking into consideration the profession’s collective or organizational identity, the parameters established by the organization, and the actual performance of the job within the educational setting. Specifically, this study examined how the individuals’ definitions had changed over time and what lived experiences led to development and change in professional identity. Six school psychologists with 10 or more years of experience from a large urban Southwestern school district’s school psychology department were invited to participate. …

Literature In The World: A Critical Discourse Study Of World Literature Pedagogy, Elisa Cogbill-Seiders

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

“Literature in the World” is a critical discourse analysis of world literature pedagogy in U.S. higher education. It investigates the ways discourse communities in higher education produce and shape the field of world literature. The dissertation begins by establishing and analyzing the generic conventions of university mission statements, finding they are primarily dominated by discourse on global learning. It follows with an analysis of world literature course descriptions from the same schools. World literature course descriptions alternatively replicate, resist, or subvert global learning discourses. The last chapter uses findings from the first two chapters to trace how university and instructor …

Community College Students’ Perceptions Of Their Academic Workload, William Neff

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

One major barrier to success, for first-time, full-time college students, is course workload (Bowyer, 2012). How students respond to their situation and the barriers they face may influence decisions they make about classes in which they should enroll or those they should avoid, completing or dropping a class during the semester, and persisting from term-to-term and year-to-year. In an effort to help students succeed, colleges often give them a specified set of core courses and a specific or even prescribed pathway to complete the “general education” requirements. These core courses such as mathematics, communication, and English, among others, taken separately …

Measuring Implementation Success Of Pay Structures And The Role Of Human Resources In Higher Education, Derek Spencer Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine if a new salary structure initiative for university staff employees would reduce variance in pay. The initiative was purposed to identify and describe the appropriate components of a pay plan that could be established by an HR unit in higher education. The treatment was tested with a quasi-experimental design using a before/after approach with classified personnel at a Midwestern university. The treatment was the implementation of the new pay plan. The final tool created was named the Pay Structure

Initiative (PSI). The analysis showed that variance in pay was reduced after the …

Learning Communities And Early Student Success, Beth Gersten

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The first year of college is a time of significant transition in a student’s life. It is also the time that provides an important foundation for subsequent years. Learning communities (LCs) consist of a group of students taking two or more classes together. The classes should have some level of curricular integration as well as social interactions that support the learning environment. LCs offer opportunities for students to participate in rich educational environments and create connections to peers and faculty that may make a difference in whether students are successful in their first year of college and whether they persist …

Promoting Vocabulary Knoweldge In Inclusive Science Classrooms: Comparison Of Instructional Methods, Matthew Love

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A sustained trend in the overall enrollment in the United States has seen classrooms reflect more student diversity. This diversity has included increased rates of participation in general education classrooms from both students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and students with disabilities. While the increase in student diversity in general education classrooms is certainly a positive step in increasing inclusive education, shifting student demographics have presented teachers with new and evolving instructional challenges. The diverse academic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds students represent also come to characterize the unique learning needs teachers should address. This is particularly true in science, …

Mental Health Research Productivity Of Nasp-Approved School Psychology Programs: 2010-2015, Mala Nash

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the evident need for mental health support of children and adolescents, there are identified professionals prepared to provide services within the school setting. The school psychologist is considered a key resource for providing mental health services such as preventive and crisis response (Dwyer, 2004; Armistead, 2008). Based on our country’s mental health needs and the significant role that schools can make in meeting those needs, it is pertinent to take a closer look at the literature specifically related to mental health. This review focused specifically on the field of school psychology’s contribution to mental health literature and established a …

Science Identity And Underrepresented Minority Stem Organizations, Schetema Nealy

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

President Obama indicated that there are twice as many science and technology jobs available in the U.S. as there are workers for those jobs (Office of the Secretary, 2013). To fulfill the need for more scientists and engineers, there must be increased educational support for the nation’s underrepresented minority (URM) science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students. URM STEM organizations, such as the National Society of Black Engineers and other URM student-oriented organizations that provide academic and career resources, are widely used on college and university campuses across the nation to support these students both academically and professionally. Future developments …

Having Or Serving: Perceptions Of Hsis, Rebecca Gates

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite substantial growth within the Latinx population and its access to higher education, there are still significant gaps with regard to degree attainment. In 2015, 36% of U.S. adults aged 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree. However, only 15% of those adults were Latinx, the lowest percentage amongst any racial/ethnic minority (NCES, 2016). While 67% of non-Hispanic White students entering four-year colleges complete their degree in six years, only 47% of Latinxs do so (Carey, 2009). These gaps represent an attainment disparity within higher education based upon population demographics. The purpose of this study was to address …

Malingering Undetected Successfully: Does Extrinsic Motivation And Coaching Have A Significant Impact?, Jennifer Golanics

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examined the effectiveness of a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) coaching (i.e., providing information about mTBI symptoms) and motivational incentive (i.e., a $50 gift card lottery) on the Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) test performance. The sample included a total of 162 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in an introductory educational psychology course. Participants were randomly assigned to one of six conditions: coached plus warning instruction and motivation incentive, coached instruction and motivation incentive, uncoached instruction and motivation incentive, coached plus warning instruction and no motivation incentive, coached instruction and no motivation incentive, and uncoached instruction and …

Epistemic Beliefs And The Innovation-Decision Process: A Mixed Methods Analysis Of Faculty Classroom Assessment Practice, Sharon G. Peterson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study focuses on epistemic belief change and the innovation-decision processes of 193 faculty who participated in a professional development workshop series on classroom assessment. From this study population, focus groups were conducted with a criterion-based research sample of 30 workshop participants (i.e., spring workshop completers n = eight, spring workshop non-completers n =eight, fall workshop completers n = seven, and fall workshop non-completers n = seven). Very little attention in higher education research is devoted to how faculty conceptualize new knowledge during professional development, and how decisions about new knowledge affect existing knowledge. This study addresses this gap by …

A Descriptive Exploration Of A Self-Directed Professional Development Approach, Derek R. Riddle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teachers, who are deemed the greatest in-school factor of student success, are often invited or mandated to engage in some form of professional development (PD) to continue in improving their practice. However, an empirical understanding of how teachers learn from PD offerings remains elusive and incomplete. Often teachers report not learning from the models where they have little autonomy. While there is small body of research on teacher-driven models, there is a lack of sufficient evidence on whether these models enhance teacher learning and ultimately their practice. Therefore, this study employed grounded theory methods coupled with a descriptive research approach …

Electronic Health Record Instruction In First-Semester Nursing Students: A Comparative Study, Angela Ruckdeschel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The use of health information technology has been shown to have positive effects on patient outcomes and provider efficiency. New nurses make more than half of the 7 million life-threatening medication errors that occur each year, and electronic health records (EHRs) have been shown to significantly reduce these errors. Nurses now are expected to enter practice with a solid foundation in health information technology and the use of the EHR. Unfortunately, the vast majority of nursing schools do not specifically train their students in effective EHR utilization. Academic EHRs (AEHRs) are software packages with learning features that can be incorporated …

Breaking The Language Barrier: Equitable Assessment In General Chemistry, Eshani Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Because language provides the framework through which knowledge is constructed, it is crucial to consider the ways in which students with limited English proficiencies are able to express their understanding. English language learners (ELLs) make up a significant portion of the student body in the education system and represent many ethnic and racial minorities in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) fields (Burke & Mattis, 2007). Despite the national push to build a more diversified, STEM-ready workforce, there is little research that considers the way ELLs are assessed in STEM courses at the postsecondary level. Literature reports that science tests …

Beyond The Bench And The Bedside: Examining Women’S Success In Stem Via Active Learning Projects, Sarah E. Thoman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Gender inequality is a persistent challenge in fields related to science, engineering, technology, and math (STEM) in the U.S. The current study aims to advance the literature in a burgeoning area of inquiry by identifying factors that may help to account for women’s success in STEM. To evaluate STEM success, I used a mixed methods design to investigate STEM identity, career identity status, career commitment, and both individual and situational resilience among women undergraduates. Students were engaged in two project-based STEM programs organized at a large, diverse, research intensive university in the Southwest U.S. Associations between resilience and career commitment, …

The Effects Of A Retrieval Practice Intervention On Undergraduates’ Monitoring And Control Processes Using Performance Feedback In A College Classroom, Meganclaire Cogliano

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examined the effects of a classroom intervention on students’ metacognitive monitoring of retrieval practice performance feedback and metacognitive control of future study decisions. The sample included 103 undergraduate students enrolled in five sections of an introductory educational psychology course. A true experimental design was used to randomly assign students to trained (n=49) and control (n=54) conditions within each section.

During the semester, students completed a pre- and post- metacognitive awareness inventory (MAI), 10 practice-tests, 10 feedback monitoring assignments, and a cumulative final examination. The feedback assignments required students to identify areas of mastery (i.e., well-learned topics) and …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of Model-Based Instruction To Improve Sixth-Grade Students’ Science Content Knowledge, Scot D. Ewen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The economy of tomorrow is uncertain, so students today need to be prepared for the known and unknown careers that lie ahead. Currently, not all students are expected to have equal career opportunities based on evidence from dropout and testing data (Brown & Brown, 2007; Kirsch, Braun, Yamamoto, & Sum, 2007), so educators should consider different methods of helping all students reach their potential. Modeling instruction is one method that might help diverse learners improve their scientific understandings and allow them to pursue careers in technology-oriented fields. A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 128 sixth grade students as participants. A …

Reverse Engineering An Expository Paragraph For Students With Mild To Moderate Disabilities And English Learners, Kathy Ewoldt

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Writing is a difficult task for most students. Only 27% of all students in America can write proficiently at or above grade level (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, 2012). With the recent adoption of rigorous standards (i.e., Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards), secondary students are required to engage in increasingly more expository writing tasks, a difficult challenge for students with high-incidence disabilities and English learners.

During the instruction process, teachers may model an example to show students how experts approach a task, typically in a sequence of beginning, middle, and ending steps. This intervention …

Utilizing Teacher Response To Help Students Meet And Transfer First-Year Composition Course Objectives, Clyde Aidoo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

For decades, considerable scholarship has explored how teachers can respond more effectively to student writing. There has also been significant research on how first-year-composition concepts can be transferred by students to other arenas of discourse outside of this required course. This thesis begins with a brief discussion on the meaning of transfer. Then, with the Council of Writing Program Administrators’ Outcomes (knowledge of conventions, rhetorical knowledge, critical thinking, processes) as a starting point, I redefine and pare down the seven response modes described by Elaine O. Lees to five types of response (calling for correction, reminding, explaining, suggesting, and assigning) …

Discovering The Self That Teaches: Multimedia Reflective Journaling And The Education Stories Of Beginning Preservice Teachers, Meredith Paula Allard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Who is the self that teaches (Palmer, 1998)? One way of uncovering a teacher’s self may be to allow beginning preservice teachers the opportunity to share their education stories, which may then allow them to explore their initial self-concepts of their roles as future teachers. This study used narrative inquiry and the arts-based activities of a multimedia reflective journal and a memoir reflective assignment as tools to help beginning preservice teachers discover and learn from their education stories. The frameworks of arts-based education research, transformative learning, and transformative teaching provided a unique lens through which to explore the education stories …